cont

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Looking for Solutions

Looking for Solutions

Undergraduate Researchers:

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FromInternships

toEmployment

TheLondon

Experience

hen engineers, inventors, or scientists are successful in creating new products or refining

old ideas so they work better, society wants to know why. How did they come up with the

idea? What made them think of that particular solution? How long did it take? Reporters

often question the researchers, and sometimes they are

surprised by the answers. In fact, when Thomas Edison

was asked about his genius — his ability to find solutions to the

problems of humanity — he replied, “Genius is 99 percent perspiration

and one percent inspiration.” The students who have participated in

Notre Dame’s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program

would probably agree with him.

College of Engineering research is not reserved for graduate

students and faculty. For a number of years, undergraduates have had

the opportunity to assist their professors in research, encountering the

ups and downs of trial and error and the laboratory know-how that will

be expected of them as they enter the work force. It is hard work, but

according to the students, it is well worth the effort. Here is a glimpse of a few of the

research opportunities engineering undergraduates experienced this past summer.

W

see REU, page 3

College of Engineering University of Notre DameVolume 26, Number 1 Fall 1999

Renovation1999

2f r o m t h e d e a nast year I indicated that my comments in this newsletter willgenerally deal with goals of theCollege and progress towardachieving these goals. However, Iwill occasionally digress to sharemy views on broader issues thatboth affect and transcend theCollege of Engineering. This is oneof those occasions, and the issueconcerns the perception and role of engineering in our society.

It is regrettable that, despite itsprofound effect on life in the 20th century,engineering is poorly understood. In a recentsurvey conducted by the Harris Poll, it wasfound that only two percent of the publicassociated engineering with creativity andthree percent with innovation. The generalmisunderstanding of the nature and fruits of engineering was such that the pollsterstermed it the “stealth profession.” What then is engineering?

At every opportunity, I tell our studentsthat engineering is a discipline that combinesan understanding of the natural world with theearth’s resources to satisfy human needs andwants. Engineers serve humanity by provid-ing more efficient means of producing food,fiber, shelter, energy, transportation, commu-nication, health care, a clean environment,and many other things that contribute to ourwell-being and self-realization. If dedicationto God implies working for the betterment ofhumanity, then the engineering profession iscertainly in God’s service.

Engineering is not science. Science is a noble and important endeavor concernedwith understanding the natural world, or inthe words of William Wulf, president of theNational Academy of Engineering, science is concerned with what is. In contrast, engi-neering is concerned with what can be.

As a creative process, engineering isstrongly tied to innovation, which implies a new way of doing things. Innovation ismuch more than discovery. It is an activitywith great potential for improving the use of natural resources, the health and wel-fare of people, their mobility, and how theycommunicate. During the 20th century thecourse of mankind has been more stronglyinfluenced by innovation than any compara-ble period in history, and engineering hasbeen its fountainhead.

Consider the field known as informationtechnologies. In the first half century, elec-tronics provided society with the vacuumtube, the telephone, radio, movies, and television. Then came the transistor and the

ability to integrate millions of transis-tors on a tiny slice of silicon. That

gave computers the power toprocess and store enormous

amounts of information, acapability that greatlyenhanced productivity,

reduced the drudgery ofwork, and enabled many

other activities. The progressionfrom mainframes to minis to PCs

to laptops to handheld

LLcomputers typifies what has driven many20th century technologies — the quest tomake things faster and smaller, to diminishtime and space.

Telephony has progressed from coppercable to optical fiber thinner than a humanhair that can transmit thousands of timesthe amount of information. Cell phones andsatellites for wireless communications arecommon. In less than ten years the Internethas reshaped how people live and work, and man can now exchange voice and datawirelessly between handheld devices and a network.

There are many other advances that couldbe cited, as in ground, air, and space trans-portation; biomedical engineering; energyconversion and utilization; and environmen-tal protection. And the advances won’t stopwith the end of the millennium.

The 21st century will see powerful com-puters as small as a pinhead. Among theirmany applications, they will be linked to billions of sensors and actuators that willcontinuously and unobtrusively monitor andcontrol the condition of anything of impor-tance: human health; the flow of ground andair traffic; and the performance and safety of autos, planes, bridges, and buildings. The multimedia data will be connected to a global network. The 21st century will alsowitness realization of the ultimate goal ofartificial intelligence, namely machines withintelligence approaching or exceeding thehuman brain, as well as the enormous poten-tial of nascent biotechnologies. There will, ofcourse, be many other important and, as yet,unforeseen developments. But, let’s nowconsider an issue of concern.

With all due respect to the many techno-logical contributions made by other nations,the 20th century has been an American century. But, will the 21st century also bemarked by U.S. leadership in technology, and if not, does it matter?

I think it does matter. If we falter, itwould mean a decline in economic strengthand national security, and hence diminishedopportunities for our children and grandchil-dren. It would also diminish our ability tohave a positive effect on the rest of theworld. Despite our shortcomings, it is hardto think of another nation that has donemore to concurrently advance the causes ofeconomic and political freedom and to pro-mote social justice. There are few nationswhose people are as committed to helpingothers. As a nation, our ability to do thesethings depends on maintaining a strongeconomy. What could cause us to falter?

One could identify many possibilities,such as erosion of our manufacturing base; mismanagement of energy and environ-mental resources; or restrictions on invest-ments in new technologies imposed by theenormous personal, corporate, and federaldebt we have incurred. But, it is in our sys-tem of education that I believe we are mostvulnerable.

Although there are certainly exceptions,outcomes of K-12 education in the U.S. significantly lag those of many nations, producing a work force less able to deal with the requirements of a modern, technology-driven economy. The problem is particularly acute in grades 5 through 12,where our children’s math and science skillsprogressively decline relative to their inter-national peers.

It would be a mistake to invoke conven-tional wisdom, which views our universitiesand graduate schools as capable of maintain-ing a competitive advantage. Today world-class universities exist in many countries,including places like Taiwan, Korea, India,and even nations as small as Singapore. Itmay also be a mistake to say that we cansucceed, despite limitations in our educa-tional system, because of our economic free-dom, our tolerance for risk, our spirit ofinnovation, and our ability to mobilize capi-tal. The rest of the world is catching on.

I am particularly concerned about themigration of U.S. students away from engi-neering, the study of which is critical to sus-taining technological leadership. Since 1986,the total number of bachelor’s degrees grant-ed annually in the U.S. increased by 18 per-cent, while the number of undergraduatedegrees in engineering declined by 20 per-cent. Regions of the U.S. known for techno-logical innovation have not been immune tothis trend, with states like California,Massachusetts, and New York experiencingdeclines of 12, 37, and 30 percent, respec-tively. If one asks “why,” I believe the mostcommon answer will be that students increas-ingly view engineering as a demandingcourse of study they are reluctant to pursue.

The ranks of engineers in the U.S. arethinning, and if current trends continue, it is unreasonable to expect that the U.S. willmaintain its technical leadership into the21st century. Although the problem isnational in scope, it is being addressed at Notre Dame.

We are doing more to communicate thenature of engineering and the importance ofstudy in mathematics and science to gradeschool children throughout Michiana andnorth central Indiana. With MIT, GeorgiaTech, Carnegie Mellon, the University ofTexas at Austin, and the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley, we are co-sponsors of the newly initiated Siemens WestinghouseScience & Technology competition for highschool students. We are also enhancing oursummer engineering short course for highschool students and doing more to market it nationally. We have become proactive inefforts to increase the number of high schoolstudents admitted to Notre Dame for studyin engineering, and we have introduced sev-eral programs to improve communication ofthe nature of engineering to our first-yearengineering intents. At every opportunity, we are communicating, to a broad universityaudience, the importance of having strongengineering education and researchprograms at Notre Dame.

If you’ve taken the time to read this epis-tle, I thank you. If you share my concerns, I encourage you to consider ways in whichyou can help to reverse current trends.

Best wishes and happy holidays to all,

Frank P. IncroperaMcCloskey Dean of EngineeringBrosey Professor of Mechanical Engineering

...if current trends

continue, it is

unreasonable to

expect that the

U.S. will maintain

its technical

leadership into

the 21st century.

Although the problem

is national in scope,

it is being addressed at

Notre Dame.

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REU

Department of Aerospace andMechanical Engineering

At a weight of roughly 800 pounds, the 1903Wright Flyer was the first heavier-than-airvehicle. Compare this to the largest airplaneever built — the An-225 Mriya, called the“Cossack” by NATO forces — with a maxi-mum weight of over 1.3 million pounds. Thefastest airplane, the SR 71, flies more thanthree times faster than the speed of sound atits cruising altitude; the Concorde travels

only about twice the speed ofsound. Until now the goals ofaviation, aviators, and aerospaceengineers have been to designand build larger, faster aircraft.

The current tide in aircraftdesign is to create vehicles thatare as small as possible for spe-cial, limited-duration missions,which could include urban war-fare, hostage rescue, or bordersurveillance. These crafts arecalled “micro-air” vehicles andcould eventually carry visual,acoustic, chemical, and biologi-cal sensors. Long-range goals ofthis project include the develop-ment of an aircraft that weighsless than one ounce, has about athree-inch wing span, and canfly up to 60 minutes at speeds

up to 35 miles per hour. It is this micro-airvehicle that aerospace undergraduatesChiara Kruse, Margaret Foltz, and LaurenMurphy were working on this summer.

Beginning the first week of June in theHessert Center for Aerospace Research andunder the direction of Thomas J. Mueller,

Roth professor ofaerospace andmechanical engineer-ing, these studentsstarted designing aseries of ten wingsfor the micro-airvehicle. Next, thestudents tested theirdesigns in wind andwater tunnels, measuring the aero-dynamic efficiency

of various wing concepts. The tests wereimportant because the aerodynamics thatapply to larger, faster planes, are not scala-ble to smaller, slower vehicles.

Department of Civil Engineering andGeological Sciences

Kruse, Foltz, and Murphy are all students atNotre Dame. However, the REU program isnot limited to University students. The REUprogram is funded by the National ScienceFoundation. Each year departments in theCollege, like the Department of CivilEngineering and Geological Sciences, invitestudents from schools throughout the UnitedStates to participate. The announcement typically includes descriptions of projectsand faculty advisors, and students returntheir applications with a ranking of projectpreferences. A group of college faculty thenselects one or more students to come toNotre Dame for the eight-week program.

Participating in this summer’s program at the Elkhart Environmental Center (EEC)were Tiffany Knapp, a senior from the

University of New Hampshire; Brad Mills, asenior from Georgia Tech; and Beth Barbella,a senior from Catholic University. They werejoined by Cindy Trujillo, a junior from NewMexico State University who worked for theCity of Elkhart as a biologist this summer.Her sister is a Notre Dame student whorecently defended her master’s thesis in the Department of Civil Engineering andGeological Sciences.

Each student selected a project from a listof possibilities and met weekly to discussand coordinate project activities with faculty,EEC staff, and other REU students. Knappworked with an activated sludge systemusing sequencing batch reactors (SBR). Herresearch modeled the intermittent flow ofwaste to determine how best to operate theElkhart Sewage Plant at peak flow, whilemaintaining suitable nutrient removal duringnormal conditions. Mills studied the use ofconstructed wetlands treatment to reduceriver contamination from combined seweroverflow, a mixture of municipal sewage and storm water runoff. And, Barbella wasinvolved with two projects, one of which concerned an economic assessment of usinga new, high-efficiency illumination system inElkhart’s traffic lights. The second projectinvolved remediation of a chemical storagearea to create a city golf course.

Collectively, the students also participatedin other activities, such as assisting oneanother with field studies; preparing an educational module for use by the EEC in itsoutreach programs; participating in trainingprograms offered by Notre Dame’s Office ofInformation Technology; attending seminars

Looking for Solutions

UndergraduateResearchers:

“I think this summer has been a

terrific opportunity for me. I’ve

learned about being creative and

adaptable when it comes to

design, skills which should serve

me well in next year’s senior

design course.”

— Lauren Murphy, aerospace engineering

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REU students, left toright, Lauren Murphy,Margaret Foltz, ChiaraKruse, and Thomas J,Mueller, Roth professorof aerospace andmechanical engineering,review the results of flowtests to determine whichwing will function beston the micro-air vehiclesthey’re designing.

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Cindy Trujillo, a juniorfrom New Mexico StateUniversity, spent thesummer working with theREU students at theElkhart EnvironmentalCenter. One of theirprojects focused on a newly createdwetlands area.

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or other professional developmentprograms; and presenting a talk on the REU experience at their home institutions.

Department of Computer Scienceand Engineering

Mary Corbett, a senior in the Department ofComputer Science and Engineering, startedwork this summer as an undergraduate on a project with Nikos P. Chrisochoides, anassistant professor in the department. Herresearch was part of a National Science

Foundation ChallengeProject on visualization of initially unstructuredmeshes and subsequentsimulation data. Corbett’sfuture work will involvesimulation and three-dimensional display ofincipient failure due tocrack propagation in a structural material,thereby providing engi-neers with “real-time”visualization of the failuremechanism.

REULooking for

Solutions

UndergraduateResearchers:

Also working with Chrisochoides as REUstudents this summer were seniors BrianHolinka and Jeff Dobbelaere. Their projectinvolved “Distributed Shared Memory Eval-uation.” The data Dobbelaere and Holinkaproduce through their research will allowapplication groups from the College to betterunderstand distributed shared memory.

Dobbelaere also worked on another proj-ect during the summer which will continuethrough the year. This project focuses onthe implementation of a software systemthat uses massively parallel processors forlarge-scale applications, like crack propaga-tion. His work will become part of a soon-to-be-published journal paper.

Assistant professor Sharon Hu’s studentsPatrick Mitsch, Raymond Ricordati, andNate Huston worked on a project developinga graphical user interface for a software toolthat explores system architectural configura-tions under the guidance of a designer’s preference. Such an interface would providea platform for users to specify input data,which can include system functionality andhardware components, as well as preferenceinformation. The students’ main responsibili-ties were to design and implement the inter-

“Campus summer research

opportunities are, for many

students, the perfect opportunity

to gain a first experience in

engineering research and

development. What we do here

will enhance our prospects for

graduate school or getting a good

engineering job after graduation.”

— Margaret Foltz, aerospace engineering

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face, for which they needed to understandthe fundamental concepts of hardware andsoftware codesign for embedded systems. In addition, they worked collaboratively withgraduate students and used design examplesto test the complete program. Mitsch workedon the project during the summer of 1998.He was supported by an REU supplement ofDr. Hu’s CAREER grant from the NationalScience Foundation. Ricordati and Hustonworked on the project during spring 1999.

These are just a few of the students whohave participated in the REU program. Theyspent 99 percent of their time looking foranswers, solving problems, and the researchcontinues. Some of the theories theyexplored will not turn out as hoped. Otherswill be the one percent of inspiration Edisonalluded to. Is that failure? Not according toEdison; he also said, “I have not failed. I’vejust found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” No effort is wasted, every bit of data andeach measurement help move REU partici-pants further along their career pathstoward becoming successful and contributingmembers of the field of engineering. All inall, it’s not a bad way to spend a summer.

Weekly meetings at the ElkhartEnvironmental Center(EEC) helped studentscoordinate theiractivities with cityplanners. Shownhere, left to right, are:Don Rosenbaum, EECassistant director;Brad Mills, a seniorfrom Georgia Tech;Ronda DeCaire, EECdirector; Art Umble,wastewater treatmentoperations managerfor the city of Elkhart;Eric Horvath, engi-neering servicesmanager for the city; Beth Barbella, asenior from CatholicUniversity; and LloydKetchum, associateprofessor of civilengineering andgeological services.

Real-time visualization, distributedshared memory, and parallel experi-mental systems are often the topicswhen, left to right, seniors JeffDobbelaere and Mary Corbett; NikosChrisochoides, assistant professor ofcomputer science and engineering; and senior Brian Holinka get together.Dobbelaere, Corbett, and Holinka haveall worked as REU students; they alsomake up the Parallel ExperimentalSystems group, which is led byChrisochoides.

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IndustryDay

WorkingTogether

i n d u s t r y

a n d

e d u c a t i o n

hat do automotive and aerospace companies,medical equipment manufacturers, communi-cations providers, and consulting companieshave in common? They want to succeed, andto do that they have to be better than theother guy. That means better ideas, betterproducts, better value, and better employees.Colleges and universities want the best

opportunities for their students…while they’re in school andafter they graduate. Better employees, better opportunitiesfor students — sounds like the basis for a very successfulcollaboration. And that’s exactly what happens when univer-sities like Notre Dame and corporations team up. It’s not anew concept, education and industry often create mutuallybeneficial partnerships to address human resource issues:employment opportunities for students and a pool of welleducated potential employees for the corporate sector. These collaborations are evident through the academic year,but they’re particularly noticeable during the College ofEngineering’s annual industry day.

WIndustry Day ’99 wasorganized by the JointEngineering Council and theSociety of Women Engineers,with leadership provided bystudents Kevin McCluskey andSarah Disch. A total of 69companies participated in thisstudent-run event. Planning fornext year’s event will begin inthe spring.

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Companies that have posted intern positions at theUniversity or sponsored Notre Dame interns include:

Andersen Consulting

Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory

Boeing

Chatsworth Products, Inc.

Cole & Associates

Compaq Computer Corporation

DaimlerChrysler

Delphi Automotive Systems

Eastman Kodak Company

Ford Motor Company

General Electric

General Motors

Great Lakes Protection Fund

IBM

Lockheed-Martin

Meritor Automotive, Inc.

Modine Manufacturing

Navistar International

NIBCO, Inc.

Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Technology

Packard Electric

Procter & Gamble

Rohm & Haas

Scitor Corporation

Siemens Corporation

Sylvania/Osram

Tellabs

U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Transportation

Valley Forge Laboratories, Inc.

Walt Disney Imagineering

Currently, internship opportunities are available in aerospaceengineering, civil engineering, chemical engineering, computerscience and engineering, electrical engineering, geological sciences, and mechanical engineering. Students interested inpositions for Summer 2000 should contact the Career andPlacement Center in Flanner Hall or Bob Cunningham atCunningham.42@nd.edu. Companies wishing to hire interns cancontact him via e-mail or through the Office of the Dean, Collegeof Engineering, 257 Fitzpatrick Hall.

6

that the corporation was also interested incommunities and paid very close attention tothe service activities of its prospectiveemployees…how involved they were in theircommunities. “Our business is not only inbig cities…In many cases, we’re a majoremployer in small towns, and our people

become the leaders in their commu-nities,” said Fortener. “We look forthe kinds of skills in people whoare going to contribute to our corporation as well as the community.”

Chris Hilal of the Microelectron-ics Division of IBM was busy show-ing students the newest semicon-ductor wafers produced by thecompany’s Advanced TechnologyCenter, talking about a new manu-facturing process, and discussingIBM’s contract with Nintendo to

provide all the chips for the next GameboySystem. Why? Because the students want toknow what’s going on with these companies.They want to feel part of something new and exciting, and they’re ready to contributetheir ideas and energies to creating newtechnologies and refining existing technolo-gies. Hilal said IBM was looking for engi-neers in all disciplines, interns and full-timeemployees.

According to KevinBerch, a process reengi-neering specialist, FordMotor Company is alsolooking for engineers in a variety of areas. Forexample, product develop-ment requires mechani-cal, aerospace, andelectrical engineers, whilerelated information tech-nologies require computer

Real-world ExperienceChristopher Bailey, a senior

in mechanical engineering

from East Grand Rapids,

Mich., says there’s nothing

like it. This summer Bailey

interned at the Tech Center

of DaimlerChrysler in Auburn

Hills, Mich. He met with

company representatives

during Industry Day ’98,

interviewed for one of the

three internship positions they were offering, and got the job. It

was actually his second internship; he had interned at a metal

stamping plant for General Motors after his sophomore year.

How did Bailey assess his summer experience at the Tech

Center? “I had a good time and was able to do good work,” he

said. “I felt like I was able to contribute, working with actual

parts of cars and improving designs.” Bailey worked on large

car platforms, focusing on a product replacement project.

In addition to the experience he gained, Bailey’s internship

has proven to be a valuable tool in the quest for full-time

employment. “It helped in my job search this year because my

resume looked good, and I was able to be more knowledgeable

about industry in my interviews,” he said. “It also helped in

classes that applied fundamentals to industrial problems.”

After graduation Bailey begins his career as a vehicle

engineer for DaimlerChrysler.

Sponsored by the Joint EngineeringCouncil and the Society of WomenEngineers, Industry Day is actually a stu-dent-run affair that begins with a receptionand banquet. Students can mix and minglewith company representatives in an informalsetting, and the representatives get to seethe whole student, personality as well as

technical ability. This year’s banquet was held on September 21 in theMonogram Room of theJoyce Center.

The second part ofIndustry Day features acareer fair. Companies canincrease their recognitionamong engineering students,discuss internship opportuni-ties, and schedule interviewswith prospective employees.This year 69 companies participated in the careerfair. Among those attendingwere General Electric, IBM,and Ford.

Thomas L. Fortener of GEControl Products attendedIndustry Day ’98 and wasback for another round ofinterviews and answeringquestions about the compa-ny. According to Fortener,General Electric had severalopportunities for interns butwas also interested in fillingpermanent positions. As with

other companies recruiting engineers, tech-nical ability is a must. Fortener indicated

science and computer engineering graduates.Berch, a Notre Dame computer engineeringgraduate, expects to return to campus inFebruary to interview students for internshippositions. It’s a process that works, as heinterviewed with Ford when he was a stu-dent here and was attracted to the companyand the opportunities it offered in informa-tion technology.

Through internship programs companiesget a qualified summer employee, they get agood look at a potential full-time employee,and they can save time and money on recruit-ing efforts. What do students get? They gainindustry experience and the chance to linkwhat they’ve learned with how best to usethat knowledge. They gain a competitiveedge over other engineering students whohave not chosen to pursue internshipoptions. Perhaps most important, they learnhow to work with others and bring diverseexperiences together to find solutions.

Can any student be an intern? Althoughmore and more companies are hiring internsafter their first year of studies, internshipopportunities typically target students whohave completed their sophomore or junioryears within the College of Engineering.And, since internship positions span from eight to 12 weeks, many companies offer

assistance with localhousing, particularly if the job is somewhereother than the student’shometown.

Even for an interntechnical experience andability is vital. A positiondescription, say for anelectrical engineeringstudent, might read:Knowledge of circuit theory and programming

“Our business is not only in

big cities…In many cases,

we’re a major employer in

small towns, and our

people become the leaders

in their communities.

We look for the kinds of

skills in people who are

going to contribute to our

corporation as well as the

community.”

Students who have interned

for a summer or two know that

this experience is as much a

part of their education as is

time spent in class.

SiemensCompetition

Held atNotre Dame

IIn 1998 the nonprofit Siemens Foundation was established to cultivate inno-

vation, research, and educational involvement in some of the most promis-

ing high school students across the nation. The Foundation is based on the

belief that industry needs to make a continued effort to support education

in the fields of math, science, and engineering. This year the organization

will award a top individual scholarship of $100,000 to a high school

student who has

developed an

independent

research project

in science, math,

or technology.

An additional

$90,000 will be

divided among

the winners of

the team portion of the competition.

Earlier this fall Notre Dame hosted one of the regional sections of the

Siemens Westinghouse Science & Technology Competition. Other participat-

ing institutions were Carnegie Mellon University, Georgia Institute of

Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of

California – Berkeley, and the University of Texas – Austin.

Students competing in this regional final presented their projects to a

panel of judges, consisting of Notre Dame faculty members Professor Paul

Helquist, chemistry and biochemistry;

Professor David Lodge, biological sciences;

Assistant Professor David Bennett, physics;

Associate Professor Sunny Boyd, biological

sciences; Associate Professor Oliver Collins,

electrical engineering; Professor Joseph

O’Tousa, biological sciences; Associate

Professor Michael Stanisic, aerospace and

mechanical engineering; Professor Stephan Stolz, mathematics; and

Associate Professional Faculty Michelle Whaley, biological sciences. These

judges selected one individual and one team

winner. Feng Zhang of Des Moines, Iowa,

won the individual regional competition and

received a $20,000 scholarship. Seetharam

Chadalavada and Melinda Sloma, both of

Battle Creek, Mich., won the team competi-

tion and received a total of $30,000. All of

the competitors were recognized at a ban-

quet on November 13; the keynote speaker

was Nobel Prize winner and physicist Leon Lederman. According to John

Tobin, executive vice president of the Siemens

Foundation, the goal of the competition is to

encourage students to “aim for the same high

expectations in school work as we expect work-

ers to demonstrate in our company: to reach

beyond what’s typically required.” Assistant

Provost for Academic Outreach Matthew

Cullinan served as on-campus coordinator

for the activities.

experience preferred. Intern will assist electricalengineers in the design and construction of high-speed automated equipment, includinghigh-speed optical scanners, welders, servomotors/drivers, PLCs, and robotics. Work mayinclude ordering parts, rendering components,and using computer-aided tools. The intern willwork with several engineers on projects. Maytravel to other facilities as required.

Students who have interned for a summeror two know that this experience is as mucha part of their education as is time spent in class. They submit a cover letter andresume, as if they were applying for a full-time position. And, although students workclosely with the University’s Office of Careerand Placement Services, the students final-ize details of the internship themselves.Many of the students who intern during the summer between their sophomore andjunior years will do another internshipbefore they graduate.

Shannon Dolan, asenior computer engineering studentfrom Elizabethtown,Pa., completed twointernships. Duringthe summer after hersophomore year, sheworked in the TechSupport Group for acivil engineering company calledGannett Fleming in Harrisburg, Pa.Dolan enjoyed the

experience, but determined that technicalsupport was not where she wanted to focus.Her second internship was with TRW inRedondo Beach, Calif. This was still not astechnical as she would have liked it to be,but she realized how much she enjoyed theatmosphere and the work. What was themost important thing to come out of her twoexperiences? “Both helped my communica-tion skills and improved my ability to workwith others,” she said. “And, they reallygave me an edge in interviews. At almostevery interview, I have been asked some-thing about my internships and what it was like or what I learned.”

Internships provide real-world experience.They give students the opportunity to exploredifferent parts of the country without actuallycommitting to a full-time job. Living in anarea for up to three months furnishes moreinsight on life in that particular community

than an extended tripduring an interview.Through internshipsstudents also cometo realize what theywant in a companyand what type ofwork best fits theirgoals and strengths.They become better students, betterthinkers, and better employees.Experience is defi-nitely a very valuableteacher.

The Career Fair portion of Industry Day gives students a chance to ask questions of thecompany representatives: about the company, about their products, and about the future of theirparticular field of engineering. Many of the recruiters who attend are Notre Dame graduatesthemselves; all are eager to help.

8

as “H-1” through “H-5.” Itwas H-5, a near duplicateof H-4, that actually wonhim the prize money dur-ing a seaworthiness test.

In the years that followed Harrison’sreceipt of the prize, theastronomical method of longitude through star measurements being studied at theObservatory became areality. This method,

although effective, lacked the innovation ofHarrison’s revolutionary time pieces. As trib-ute to Harrison, his first four innovations areon display at the Observatory in Greenwich,the site where their accuracy was tested. H-1 through H-3 are still ticking away. Theylook more like antiques than machines capa-ble of leading a voyage across the ocean. H-4is the world’s first precise naval chronome-ter; it sits silent and is not wound to betterpreserve its condition.

After touring the Observatory and havinglunch, we spent the second half of the day inthe National Maritime Museum. Displays inthis museum recount Britain’s long historyon the ocean, including a look at Spanishgalleons, the difficulties of deep-sea divingand submarines, and the transatlantic oceanliners of the early 20th century.

The Royal Observatory in Greenwich nowserves as a testament to scientific advance-ments. There we were able to enjoy a sceniccenter of architecture and education, as well as the story of two centuries of progress.

ituated east of London onthe banks of the RiverThames, the tiny village of Greenwich has seen itsshare of history. This NewYear’s Eve Greenwich willsponsor one of the world’smost hyped millennial cel-ebrations, but the historybehind the town goes fardeeper than the novelty of

a simple holiday party. It is rooted in scien-tific invention and achievement, which iswhat led our group of engineering studentsto Greenwich, the Royal Observatory, andthe Prime Meridian. We were fascinated bythe connection between the Observatory’swork and global navigation; Greenwich islocated at “zero degrees longitude.”

The Royal Observatory in Greenwichwas built partly as a result of a con-

test held by Parliament in 1714.At that time navigation on theopen ocean was treacherousbecause there was no methodfor determining a ship’s longi-

tude. A ship’s navigatorcould readily find the

latitude — theNorth-South

position — butwas forced to

guess how farthe ship had

traveled to theEast or West. As a

result accidents and delayswere commonplace on many

voyages that required leavingthe sight of land. After a par-ticularly bad shipwreck in1707, in which 2,000 Britishsailors died, Parliamentoffered a reward for finding a method to determine precise longitude.

Only two of the theoriespresented during this “contest” proved to have any

practical value. Thefirst, which gave riseto a need for theObservatory, used thesky as a navigationalaid. By measuring thedistance between spe-cific stars, each ship’snavigator could deter-mine the ship’s posi-tion on the globe. Asthe ship moved acrossthe sea, the perspec-tive would change,resulting in different stellar measurementsand corresponding to differences in longi-tude. Due to the Earth’s rotation, the per-spective from any given longitude shifteddaily. Work to perfect this method continuedat the Observatory for years.

Another method of stellar navigation wasalso under study. It required a ship to carrya clock set to the time at its home port. This“home time” would then be used as a refer-ence against the ship’s position. If, forinstance, the ship were in a location wherethe sun reached its highest point — thelocal noon — one hour after the ship’s clockreached noon, the navigator could find theship’s longitude in respect to the home port.Unfortunately, clocks at the time were inca-pable of the precision required to be accu-rate, gaining or losing as much as fiveminutes each day.

Clockmaker John Harrison, a self-taughtmechanical genius, was inspired by the mon-etary prize Parliament was offering. And, hebegan designing and building a series ofsuper-accurate time pieces. His designs,which almost completely eliminated theeffects of friction, temperature, and externalvibrations on the performance of clocks, arestill used in today’s time pieces. In fact, theyhave been applied to all areas of scientificmeasuring instruments. Harrison spent themajority of his life working on the longitudi-nal problem. When the reward money wasfinally given to him in 1773, he hadproduced five clocks of varying sizes, known

EngineeringExperiences inLondon:

Standing in two hemispheres at the same time is just one of the extracurricular activities Notre Dame engineeringstudents experienced during their semester in England.

Pictured here at the Prime Meridian Line at the RoyalObservatory in Greenwich, front to rear, are: Mary Clark,aerospace engineering; Margaret Foltz, aerospaceengineering; Chiara Kruse, aerospace engineering; Adam Manella, aerospace engineering; and Paul Ratz,electrical engineering. Professor Patrick F. Dunn from theDepartment of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering ledthe London Program this fall.

Editor’s note: This perspective on

Greenwich was provided by Adam Manella,

junior, aerospace engineering. During this

semester abroad, he and other engineering

students have visited several sites, includ-

ing the Rolls-Royce facilities, the Thames

Barrier, the Mechanical and Civil

Engineering Laboratories at Queen Mary

and Westfield Colleges and several muse-

ums featuring engineering history. The stu-

dents have written about these highlights;

some of these perspectives are located on

the College of Engineering’s web site at

www.nd.edu/~engineer/newweb/under/.

So n es t u d e n t ’ sp e r s p e c t i v e

Professor Ahsan Kareem has been namedchair of the Department of Civil Engineeringand Geological Sciences. A leading research-er in probabilistic structural dynamics, fluid-structure interactions, structural safety, andthe mitigation of natural hazards — specifi-cally wind, waves, and earthquakes —

Kareem has been a member of the College of Engineering faculty since 1990.His research focuses on the environmental loads of wind, waves, and earthquakes on

structures, the associated dynamic behavior of the structures, and risk assessment. He usescomputer models as well as laboratory and full-scale experiments to better understand theimpact of natural hazards on the constructed environment. His findings are used to developmodels for predicting structural response to environmental hazards.

In addition to his duties within the department, Kareem will continue to serve as chief edi-tor and associate editor for two major international journals and will remain on the editorialboards of five other journals dealing withwind, wave, and earthquake issues. He par-ticipates in several panels of the NationalResearch Council of the National Academyof Sciences as well as the NationalAcademy of Engineering. Kareem is theimmediate past president of the AmericanAssociation for Wind Engineering, which isresponsible for national issues concerningwind related hazards like hurricanes andtornadoes, and has served as a senior con-sultant to major oil companies, insurancecompanies, engineering corporations, andthe United Nations.

Throughout his career, Kareem hasreceived numerous honors, including the1984 Presidential Young Investigator Awardfrom the National Science Foundation. Healso received the 1997 Engineering Award from the National Hurricane Conference, honoringhis contributions to the development of the ASCE7-95 Standard for Minimum Design Loadsfor Buildings and Other Structures, which has already led to safer, more hurricane-resistantconstruction in the United States and the Caribbean. Most recently, he was namedDistinguished Alumnus of Colorado State University in recognition of his exceptional contributions to engineering through education, publication, leadership, and service.

Civil Engineeringand Geological Sciences NamesNew Chair

According to Dr. Panos J. Antsaklis,newly named director for the Center forApplied Mathematics (CAM), mathemat-ics provides a common language, andmathematical models are often used todescribe processes and design new prod-ucts. In fact mathematics has been an

important part of society since ancient times. Examples include predicting lunar and solareclipses, calculating the timing of the annual floods of the Nile, or designing the Parthenon.Today, mathematics are used to describe not only Newton’s laws or Einstein’s theory of rela-tivity, but also phenomena in economic and social sciences. “The most familiar statisticalinterpretations of data might be those gathered by political organizations during election cam-paigns or by the entertainment industry to determine the appeal of certain television shows,”said Antsaklis.

The Center’s aim is to enhance interdisciplinary use and teaching of applied mathematics— mathematics that solve practical problems in areas such as industrial, transportation,

communication, and businessapplications. Established morethan a decade ago, it fostersUniversity-wide interactionand collaboration and provides support for facultyresearchers using mathemat-ics in a variety of disciplines— from engineering to socialsciences. It also providesgraduate fellowships and sup-port for workshops, seminarseries, and faculty visitors.

Future plans for CAMinclude placing emphasis onthe collaborative aspects ofthe Center across disciplines. In addition to continuing

research in traditional areas, CAM will focus on discrete and computational mathematics thatsupport the role of today’s computers and digital devices. This better reflects the fact thatinformation technology will continue to be an important part of engineering, science, andbusiness research and practice for years to come.

Antsaklis is a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Prior to joining the faculty in 1980, he held regular and visiting appointments at Brown University, RiceUniversity, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Imperial College of the Universityof London, the National Technical University of Athens, and the National Aeronautics andSpace Administration’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Antsaklis NamedDirector of Center for AppliedMathematics

newfaculty

Thomas C. CorkeClark Professor of Aerospace andMechanical Engineering

Teaching “Flight Mechanics and

Introduction to Design” for the Department

of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering is

Dr. Thomas C. Corke, Clark professor of

aerospace and mechanical engineering,

who comes from the Illinois Institute of

Technology (IIT) in Chicago, where he was

also a member of the IIT Fluid Dynamics

Research Center. His initial research

focused on experimental and numerical

fluid mechanics, particularly instabilities,

transition and turbulence in jets, and

boundary layers and wakes in compressible

and incompressible flows. His present

research also includes the development of

techniques to alter acoustics in jets, the

measurement of fluid instabilities in bound-

ary layers of hypersonic lifting bodies, the

separation control of helicopter rotors,

and the study of acoustic and vortical

disturbances surrounding the flow at the

leading edge of airfoils. He is a consultant

for the Institute for Computational

Applications in Science and Engineering

(ICASE), an associate fellow in the American

Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics,

and a member of the American Society of

Mechanical Engineers, American Physical

Society, and Society of Engineering Science.

Corke also received the NASA Langley

Achievement Award twice.

9

ulminating 15 years of facultyresearch and educationaldevelopment, the University of Notre Dame recently estab-lished the Center for NanoScience and Technology.

Its purpose is to explore the fundamentalconcepts of nanoscience and develop uniqueengineering applications using nanoprinci-ples. Although led by the College ofEngineering’s electrical engineering depart-ment, the Center will be comprised of a mul-tidisciplinary task force of researchers fromthe departments of electrical engineering,computer science and engineering, chem-istry and biochemistry, as well as physics.

Nanoscience and technology offers enor-mous potential for new applications andindustries. Long-term economic forecastsestimate that the future growth of nanotech-nology will parallel that of today’s semicon-ductor industry. “Development of thisfacility,” said Center Director Gerald J.Iafrate, professor of electrical engineeringand associate dean for research in theCollege of Engineering, “assists theUniversity in training students for immedi-ate participation in nanoscience and tech-nology, helping them to be productive andextremely competitive in the market of thefuture.”

The new Center will focus on nanoelec-tronics, the study of molecule-sizedelements. It will integrate research inmolecular and semiconductor-based nano-structures, device concepts and modeling,nanofabrication and characterization, infor-mation processing architectures and designto address common application goals — likecomputing with quantum dots or producinghigh-speed nano-based circuits. “But a keygoal of the new Center,” said Iafrate, “is toserve as a national resource, a think tank,where technologists from industry can cometo explore nanoconcepts for engineeringapplications. This will benefit students andprovide industry with long-range opportuni-ties.” Over the years federal grants receivedto support research in nanoscience andtechnology have totaled approximately tenmillion dollars. This includes major grantsfrom the National Science Foundation, theAir Force Office of Scientific Research, the Office of Naval Research, the ArmyResearch Office, and the Defense AdvancedResearch Projects Agency (DARPA) of theDepartment of Defense.

While nanoscience is a vital and excitingfield for the next generation, it is also one of the best examples on the University levelof research that has and will continue toinvolve engineers, physicists, chemists, andcomputer architects. Many of the faculty forthe Center come from the electrical engi-neering department. They include: CenterDirector Gerald J. Iafrate; Center AssociateDirector Wolfgang Porod; and ThrustLeaders Yih-Fang Huang, Gary H. Bernstein,and Craig S. Lent. Other faculty membersfrom the department include Douglas Hall,Patrick Fay, Thomas Kosel, Gregory Snider,and Arpad Csurgay, a visiting professor fromTechnical University of Budapest.

Additional faculty members come fromdifferent departments and colleges through-out the University. From the computer sci-ence and engineering department, also inthe College of Engineering, are ThrustLeader Peter Kogge and Jay Brockman.College of Science Thrust Leader ThomasFehlner, Gregory Hartland, MaryaLieberman, and Olaf Wiest are from thechemistry and biochemistry department.Coming from the physics department areThrust Leader Jacek Furdyna, Albert-LasloBarabasi, and Malgorzata Dobrowolska-Furnyna.

Center for Nano Science and Technology Established

Members of the Center for Nano Science and Technology, left to right, include: Craig S. Lent, Center Director Gerald J. Iafrate, Center Associate Director Wolfgang Porod,Gary H. Bernstein, and Gregory Snider — all from the Department of Electrical Engineering.Additional faculty members come from electrical engineering, as well as differentdepartments and colleges throughout the University. In addition to exploring nanoconceptsfor engineering applications, plans for the Center encompass the development of newdirections in nanoscience such as the design and fabrication of microelectromechanicalsystems (MEMS), the role of non-equilibrium thermodynamics in influencing the properties of nanodevices, and investigating how nanostructures interact with biological systems.

new

facul

tyAnne L. MarsanAssistant Professor of Aerospaceand Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Anne L. Marsan joins the College of

Engineering as an assistant professor.

Marsan’s research focuses on ways to

better construct solid models from three-

dimensional images and to perform process

planning for layered manufacturing, includ-

ing rapid prototyping systems. During

her first semester, Dr. Marsan taught a

course in computer aided design and

manufacturing.

C10

in realtime.”

The focus of the electrochemistry group istwo-fold: to develop a better understandingof the mechanisms of corrosion for variousalloys and the prevention of corrosion, aswell as to shape materials in a quick, effi-cient, and precise manner. For example, oneof the on-going projects is a partnership withPurdue University, Cornell University, andthe University of Nebraska. Notre Dame’srole is to shape metals to nano-sizedpatterns that can be used in semiconductorsor other applications. Each partner institu-tion is pursuing a different application forthe nano-patterned materials. Researchers in the electrochemistry lab already have a considerable understanding of how to pattern aluminum. They are currently working to extend the patterns to other metals. “Gold is our next target because of its wide use in the electrical industry,”said Crouse.

Research,development, andworking with newtechnology to create a better producttakes time. Thepatented robotic wrist andforearm mechanism shownhere is the outcome of a long-running project within the Department ofAerospace and Mechanical Engineering. Ithas a range of motion and level of dexterityapproximately double that found in currentrobot manipulators. “We’re excited about theimpact of this technology on the manufactur-ing process and our students,” said MichaelM. Stanisic, associate professor of aerospaceand mechanical engineering. “Several of our students have received national recognitionfor their participation in this project.”

Karl Etzel (B.S. ’94) first developed thecritical portion of the wrist as part of hisSenior Design project, which won him theB.F. Goodrich Collegiate Inventors Award.Three other undergraduates — Jared Wiitala(B.S. ’96), James Schmiedler (B.S. ’96), andBrad Rister (B.S. ’96) — developed the primary structure of the wrist and placedfirst in the American Society of MechanicalEngineers’ 1996 Old Guard Design Competi-tion. Wiitala went on to design and build the

wrist as a Collegeof Engineeringgraduate student.

But thewrist is just

part of this proj-ect; the forearm of

the robot was designedlast spring by John Rogers

(B.S. ’99). Jack Feix, a current mechanicalengineering graduate student, has modifiedthe original design and integrated it with theforearm. He is also designing the upper armand shoulder of the robot and will see to thefinal assembly of the whole machine.

Development of the complete manipulatoris part of a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant in conjunction with the NSF’sCombined Research and CurriculumDevelopment Program. The purpose of theprogram is to further research while alsodeveloping undergraduate courses that dealwith a new form of technology or science.Running through July 2000, the grant is forthe amount of $364,000, $70,000 of which isbeing used to build the manipulator.

As part of the educational aspect of theprogram, Stanisic has created a four-coursesequence that teaches seniors and entry-level graduate students some of the mechan-ical aspects of robots. It also informs themabout a new form of vision control — devel-oped at Notre Dame by Professor Steven B.Skaar — known as Camera SpaceManipulation. The entire course sequencewill be in place by January 2000 and will betaught by Stanisic and Skaar. Students willuse the wrist, and other parts of the robot,in the capstone course of the sequence toperform tasks assigned by a panel of engi-neers from industry. “The tasks assignedwill be challenging, if not impossible withpresent technology and machinery,” saidStanisic. “They will stretch our students tobe creative in their solutions and give themgood experiences to draw from as they begintheir careers.”

Mechanical Engineering StudentsBuild Robot

ElectrochemistryResearch GetsBoost from NewEquipmentA Digital Instruments’ MultiMode

atomic force microscope was recentlyinstalled in the Department of ChemicalEngineering’s electrochemistry lab.Although the microscope portion of themachine is fairly standard, the ability to usethe on-board potentiostat and associatedsoftware is unique. Now, not only canUniversity researchers like Dr. Albert Miller,professor of chemical engineering, graduatestudent Michael M. Crouse, and othersmeasure and image nano-sized objects, but the potentiostat enables faculty and stu-

dents to examine surfacereactions as they occur.“The ability to run reac-tions, watch the evolutionof the surface and monitorsurface characteristics isimportant,” said Crouse.“Most electrochemistrylabs do not have thisequipment and can’tdetermine what happens

Graduate student Michael M. Crouse prepares the new atomic forcemicroscope for the next round of readings. When in use, the tip of the device

travels over the surface of the material as a laser is deflected off the back of the tip to provide areal-time image of the electrochemical reaction in process.

newfaculty

Agnes E. OstafinAssistant Professor of ChemicalEngineering

The Department of Chemical Engineering

welcomes Agnes E. Ostafin, assistant pro-

fessor. A member of the American Chemical

Society, American Physical Society, and

American Association for the Advancement

of Science, Ostafin comes from the

University of Chicago, where she has been

serving as a research associate in the

Department of Chemistry. Areas of particu-

lar interest to Ostafin include the design

and synthesis of novel materials for solar

energy conversion, genetic engineering of

photo-active enzymes and biologically based

molecular devices, photo induced electron

and energy transfer in organic/inorganic

structures, and ionization processes in

condensed phases. She taught Chemical

Engineering Thermodynamics during the

fall semester.

Professor Hsueh-Chia Chang, Associate

Professor David T. Leighton Jr., and graduate

student Jason Keith, all of the Department of

Chemical Engineering, have been redesigning

the automotive catalytic converter. Why? In the

U.S., the average driving time per trip is 25

minutes. Unfortunately, current catalytic con-

verters don’t reach a sufficient temperature

for the reaction to be effective until about 15

minutes into a trip. The new “Y” design, shown

here, is currently being tested to see if it can

raise temperatures faster, leading to more

rapid reactions and a more environmentally-

friendly converter.

11

12

Research conducted in the Departmentof Civil Engineering’s Structural Dynamics &Control Earthquake Engineering Laboratorywas on display Wednesday, September 22, as part of a daylong summit on Capitol Hill.Sponsored by The Science Coalition, theevent highlighted recent advances made byfederally supported research projects atAmerica’s colleges and universities. NotreDame was one of eight selected participants.

Dr. B. F. Spencer, professor of civil engi-neering and geological sciences, Dr. MichaelK. Sain, Freimann pro-fessor of electricalengineering, and otherresearchers in theearthquake lab wereshowcasing the newbuffering system theyhave developed. Theirsystem, using magne-torheological (MR)fluid, acts like a shockabsorber to protectstructures — build-ings, offshoreplatforms, bridges,and pipelines — fromthe shock waves asso-ciated with disasterssuch as earthquakes,hurricanes, waves,and even terroristacts. MR fluid is asuspension of micron-sized iron particles inoil. Its normal viscosi-ty is that of lightmotor oil, but whenexposed to a magneticforce, it instantlythickens like pudding,allowing a structure to“ride” softly with themovements of theground or air. Eachshock absorberrequires about 50watts of power, so the entire system for onebuilding could operate easily on batteries ifpower were interrupted.

Spencer and Sain’s research has been supported by the National ScienceFoundation, and they are currently workingwith the Lord Corporation to develop thedetails of this technology.

new

facul

tyJesùs A. IzaguirreAssistant Professor of ComputerScience and Engineering

Joining the Department of Computer

Science and Engineering as an assistant

professor is Jesùs A. Izaguirre. His research

interests include high-performance comput-

ing, parallel numerical algorithms, web

distributed computing, and bioinformatics.

Currently, Izaguirre is developing numerical

methods for faster biomolecular modeling

and simulation. He has previously served as

an instructor at Tecnologico de Monterrey

and is a member of the Society for

Industrial and Applied Mathematics, the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics

Engineers Computer Society, the Association

for Computing Machinery, and the New York

Academy of Sciences. He will be teaching

Data Structures.

Top photo, left to right: Current and formerCollege of Engineering-affiliated researcherswho traveled to Washington to man the displayincluded Erik A. Johnson, visiting researchassistant professor of civil engineering andgeological sciences; Gang Jin, an electricalengineering graduate student; Richard E.Christensen, a graduate student in civilengineering; Michael K. Sain, Freimannprofessor of electrical engineering; PatrickSchneidau, a civil engineering undergraduate;Guangqiang Yang, a graduate student in civilengineering; B.F. Spencer, professor of civilengineering and geological sciences; and LynnYanyo and Dave Carlson, both of LordCorporation.

Bottom photo, left to right: John D. RockefellerIV, Democratic senator from West Virginia,experiments with a tube of magnetorheologicalfluid while Lynn Yanyo and Dr. Spencer look on.

Notre DameEngineersTravel to

Capitol Hill

13

This year more than 175 undergraduatesvisited the College during the open house.They heard first-hand from Dean Incropera;Troy Hershberger, director of product devel-opment at Biomet, Inc.; and Jami Meteer, asenior in the electrical engineering depart-ment, how students can shape the world asengineers. In addition several faculty, cur-rent students, and other College staff wereon hand to answer questions as first-yearstudents examined the many options acareer in engineering offers.In fact, that’s the wholeobjective of the open house— to show students the mul-titude of choices they haveas engineers and to encour-age their continued participa-tion as part of the College ofEngineering.

Each of the departmentswithin the College openedtheir labs. Students wereable to visit the Departmentof Aerospace and MechanicalEngineering’s CAD/CAM, Robotics, andDesign labs. Also on display was the Mini-Baja car project, which is maintained andraced by mechanical engineering students.Faculty from the Department of ChemicalEngineering led a thorough tour of theChemical Engineering Lab. In theDepartment of Civil Engineering andGeological Sciences, students experiencedthe Biogeochemistry and EarthquakeEngineering labs. Those interested in computer science and engineering investigated the System Administration and Integrated Circuit Design labs. Alongwith the Photonics and Microwave Circuitslabs, students exploring electrical engineer-ing were able to check out the College’s electric race car. The Minority EngineeringProgram andseveral studentengineeringorganizationswere also partof the event.

newfaculty

Alan C. SeabaughProfessor of Electrical Engineering

Professor Alan C. Seabaugh comes to

the Department of Electrical Engineering

from the Applied Research Laboratory

of Raytheon Systems in Dallas, Texas.

At Raytheon he was responsible for the

development of resonant tunneling devices

and circuit technology for digital and

analog/mixed signal applications. Prior to

working at Raytheon he held positions in

Texas Instruments’ Central Research

Laboratory and the National Bureau of

Standards’ Electron Device Division. He has

been manager and principal investigator for

numerous government programs. In addi-

tion, he has served as a visiting lecturer at

the University of Texas-Dallas, authored and

co-authored more than 100 publications,

and holds 16 U.S. patents. Seabaugh is a

senior member of the Institute of Electrical

and Electronics Engineers and a member

of the American Physical Society. He taught

Advanced Studies in Semiconductor Devices

during the fall semester.

EngineeringOpen House

ast year the College of Engineering initiated

an open house for first-year students who have

indicated an interest in engineering. L

14

Protocol Annex III, a joint meetingbetween delegations from the People’sRepublic of China and the United States,was held earlier this fall, at theUniversity of Notre Dame. An annualevent, the meeting emphasizes coopera-tive efforts between earthquake expertsin both countries in order to decrease

the amount of damage to civil structures and their occupants brought about by seismic disas-ters. This year’s meeting reviewed past joint projects, identified future collaborations and

determined focusareas for new andcontinuing research.Following a tour ofthe campus, Collegeof Engineering facilities and theDepartment of Civil Engineeringand GeologicalSciences’ StructuralDynamics & Control EarthquakeEngineeringLaboratory,delegates were honored at a College-sponsored banquet.

Members of the Chinese delegation were: Lin Xuancai, director of the EarthquakeResistance Office of the Ministry of Construction; Dr. Zhou Xiyuan, a researcher at the ChinaAcademy of Building Research and member of the China Academy of Science; Lu Yipeng, thedivision head of the Office of the State Commission for Organizational Setup; Dr. Qi Xiaozhai,a researcher and deputy director of the Mechanics Engineering Institute; Dr. Ye Liaoyuan,professor and deputy president of Yunnan Polytechnic University; and Jia Shu, senior engineerand deputy division head of the Earthquake Resistance Office of the Ministry of Construction.

The members of the U.S. delegation were: Dr. Shih-Chi Liu, director of the EarthquakeHazard Mitigation Program at the National Science Foundation; Dr. B. F. Spencer of theCollege of Engineering’s Department of Civil Engineering and Geological Sciences; Dr. GeorgeC. Lee, the director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research; Dr. James Beavers of the Mid-America Earthquake Center; Fan Wu of Risk ManagementSolutions, Inc.; Dr. Weimin Dong, also of Risk Management Solutions; Dr. Ming L. Wang, aprofessor at the University of Illinois at Chicago; and Dr. Lawrence A. Bergman, a professorat the University of Illinois at Urbana — Champaign.

ore than one million dollars of a three-million-dollar grant from the NationalScience Foundation and IBM is being used to create a virtual laboratory focusingon multiscale applications within the College of Engineering. “We’re very excit-ed about the Parallel Experimental Systems Lab,” said Nikos P. Chrisochoides,director of the lab and assistant professor in the Department of ComputerScience and Engineering. “Our goal is to create and maintain a highly practicalenvironment for research and education that continually generates highly competent students. This facility represents another step toward that goal.”

The overall objective of the laboratory is to function as a research and educational environ-ment for College of Engineering faculty, as well as current and prospective students. Specificactivities will include software development for the implementation of time-dependent simula-

tions of complex physical phenomena and providing feedback to parallel hard-ware architects in the department.

Two of the focus areas are computational fracture mechanics and computa-tional molecular biology. Interest in these fields is growing rapidly. For computerscientists and engineers, like Dr. Chrisochoides, these fields offer a challengedue to the nature of multiscale applications, for which engineers need to devel-op new and more efficient parallel algorithms. In the near future teams ofmaterial scientists, biologists, and computer scientists will develop multiscalealgorithms, implement codes, run simulations, and visualize results using the

lab’s facilities. Although Notre Dame cannot currently process large production runs, theParallel Experimental Systems Lab gives the University the appropriate hardware diversity toaccomplish prototyping systems and then send the computations to a supercomputing centerfor final production.

When complete, the laboratory will feature a high-performance visualization center, a cluster of approximately 30 computers, and a visitor’s desk which will be used for outreachopportunities and sharing the exciting field of engineering with elementary, high school, andfirst-year University students.

Virtual Laboratoryfor ParallelExperimentalSystems Plannedfor College

M“Our goal is to create and maintain

a highly practical environment

for research and education that

continually generates highly

competent students.”

Notre Dame HostsU.S.– China

Protocol Meeting

Out of this WorldTwo College of Engineering alumni have seen

their research launched recently. Lt. Col.

Michael Caylor (’93, aerospace engineering),

Deputy for Labs and Research in the

Department of Astronautics at the United

States Air Force Academy (USAFA), has been

heavily involved in the Academy’s small satellite

program. In October, they launched “FalconSat-

1.” It carries a space physics experiment and

will be monitored from a new ground station at

the Academy. Caylor is becoming more and

more involved with the USAFA’s advanced rocket

engine research. He is currently focusing on

hybrid propellant technology that uses a solid

fuel and liquid oxidizer.

Cathy Pieronek (’83, aerospace engineering)

worked on the Chandra X-Ray Observatory,

launched earlier this year. Chandra is the

third of the National Aeronautics & Space

Administration’s (NASA) four great observato-

ries. Pieronek worked on this project when

she was employed by TRW in Redondo

Beach, Calif. She also worked on the

second of the observato-

ries, the Compton

Gamma Ray

Observatory, over

a seven-year

period at TRW. In

1995 Pieronek grad-

uated from the Notre

Dame Law School, and since

1996 has worked at the Law

School in alumni relations and

publications.

15

riginally Room 217 inCushing Hall was theengineering library. Overthe years it was convert-ed to a student centerand used primarily as ameeting place and stor-age facility for differentengineering studentorganizations. Later,Room 217 was needed foroffice space. Walls wereerected, offices built, and

several engineering emeriti faculty moved in.But that was not the end of the transforma-tion. As the College of Engineering grew, theneed for a student area became more pro-nounced. It was this needthat Dean Incropera,Robert Cunningham, direc-tor of budgets and opera-tions for the College, andthe Engineering StudentAdvisory Council began toaddress in April. At thistime alumnus Charles B.Kitz (’58, mechanical engi-neering) heard of the project and generouslydonated $75,000 for remodeling and devel-opment of a new engineering student center.Everything was in place for the renovation to begin.

Cunningham started working withDeborah Murray, a project coordinator inFacilities Operations, and Debra Durall, an interior designer also in FacilitiesOperations. Heating and air-conditioningcontractors were brought in to review thesituation and make suggestions, mainlybecause Room 217 had never been air-conditioned. Durall came up with some initial ideas for the décor and layout of the room. Then Murray and Durall metwith Incropera, Cunningham, and the mem-bers of the student council. They discussedwhat kind of furniturewould meet the needs ofstudents, as well as theother items students wouldfind useful in the center. Inshort, they discussed howthe room should function— as a place of relaxationand socialization, a roomwhere students could col-laborate on group projectsor commiserate over a finalexam. After reviewing floorplans and swatches, thecommittee made its selec-tion and remodeling began.

The N

ew En

ginee

ring S

tude

nt Ce

nter

Open

s

In June Cushing 217 was gutted; the conver-sion to a student center was under way.

Work was completed and carpet laid. A large-screen television was installed aswas a small refrigerator and kitchen area, a stereo, and several very comfortablecouches and chairs. The center was readyfor occupancy.

On Thursday, November 18, the CharlesB. Kitz Engineering Student Center was dedicated. Rev. Mark Poorman, C.S.C., vicepresident for student affairs, blessed theroom. Kitz and his wife, Betty, cut the rib-bon, and received a plaque acknowledgingtheir gift. Several of the students presentexpressed their excitement over the centerand their gratitude regarding the gift. The

Engineering AdvisoryCouncil was also inattendance; the eventwas part of their annualfall meeting, which had begun earlier that morning.

The center is nowopen from 7:00 a.m.through 11:00 p.m. daily.

Guidelines drafted by representatives fromthe student council for use of the center areas follows:

• Be considerate and respectful of otherstudents in the student center. This includesstereo and television volume.

• Keep kitchen area clean. Each student is responsible for cleaning up afterhimself/herself at the counter, the refrigera-tor, and the shelves.

• Television and stereo are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

• The front portion of the center, coucharea, can be reserved for meetings through a reservation book to be kept in the center.Other students, provided they do not disruptthe meeting, may use any open tables.

O

For years engineering students

have needed a space in the

Cushing/Fitzpatrick complex to

meet or simply to relax. Thanks

to the generosity of Charles B.

Kitz, an alumnus and member

of the College of Engineering’s

Advisory Council, that space

now exists.

The Charles B. KitzEngineering StudentCenter was dedicatedon November 18.Among those presentwere, left to right:George Duke, director of regional development; Betty Kitz; RobertCunningham, College ofEngineering director ofbudgets and operations;Charles B. Kitz; Rev.Mark Poorman, C.S.C.,vice president forstudent affairs; DeanIncropera; and JamiMeteer, a senior inelectrical engineering.

The wife of Paul Rupp Jr. has estab-lished a memorial fund in her husband’s name to support the College of Engineering.Daughter Linda Scorzo and other family members worked with Dr. Stephen E. Silliman,associate professor of civil engineering and

geological sciences, and Kenneth J. Hendricks, associate director of planned giving, to decide how best to manage the fund as a true memorial to theirfather. Initially, the fund will be used to develop a Field Teaching Laboratory on a site close to the campus. Each academic year this lab will give up to 100

undergraduates the opportunity to gain uniquehands-on experience in both water treatment andgroundwater systems. Designed for the study ofwater treatment and supply, the lab’s efforts willinclude remediation technologies and resourcemanagement studies. The facility will also providefor the expansion of a developing nations program,which focuses on training students and adult vol-unteers to develop and treat water supplies in lessdeveloped countries. Creation of this laboratoryputs Notre Dame at the forefront of water supplyand pollution control efforts. Annually, the PaulRupp Jr. Endowment for Excellence Fund will beused to support undergraduate research activitiesand field trips, with a strong emphasis on studenttravel to less developed nations for the implemen-tation and evaluation of water supply and treat-ment technologies. It will also provide incentivesfor students and faculty who excel in this field andwill nurture and expand the academic opportuni-ties undergirding the mission of the University.

Rupp Memorial Fund toSupport Field TeachingLaboratory

Nonprofit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Notre Dame, Indiana

Permit No. 10

University of Notre Dame

College of Engineering

Notre Dame, IN 46556-5637

Volume 26, Number 1, Fall 1999

Editor: Nina Welding

Graphics: Joanne Birdsell, Marty Schalm

Contact Engineering Graphics at Nina.R.Welding.2@nd.edu

b a c k p a g et

he

Surf’sUp!The College of Engineering is updatingits web site. New features and additions include

information on internship opportunities for students

and corporations; a calendar of events for College

activities; featured laboratories and research; an

on-line version of College publications; and an alumni

page. As always, comments from alumni, as well as

current and prospective students are welcome.

Coming on-line in late December, the new site should

be even more interactive and helpful in finding infor-

mation or contacting College faculty and staff. Access

the new College web at www.nd.edu/~engineer.

Comments and suggestions may be sent to:

Nina Welding, Editor, College of Engineering,

357-B Fitzpatrick Hall, Notre Dame, IN 46556-5637

or via e-mail at Nina.R.Welding.2@nd.edu.

Family members haveestablished a memorial fundin the name of Paul Rupp Jr.,a 1953 graduate of theUniversity.